


Don't cry, it'll be alright...

by orphan_account



Category: Free Time - Fandom, Reaction Time, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Birthday, Driving, Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Happy, Sad Ending, Talthony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sometimes, birthdays aren't always the best days of the year, and Tal Fishman is about to find out why.





	1. Revelation

**Author's Note:**

> Italics represent the thoughts of a person.

_Where the fuck is that guy?! He was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago!_ Michael thought, flustered and stressed out.

Pulling his phone out from his blue designer jeans, he dialled a number and impatiently waited for the other person to pick up as he paced around the backyard of the Free Time house.

For what seemed like hours, the line finally connected, and Michael didn’t hesitate to immediately start screaming into his phone.

“Anthony! Where the actual _fuck_ are you?! It’s literally 5:35 PM, you were supposed to be here _half an hour_ ago! How are we supposed to start preparing and setting things up if you’re going to arrive 5 minutes before the party?! Adi can’t keep him pre-occupied for much longer and the rest of us are waiting for your fucking instructions!”

Shortly after, Anthony answered from the other side, clearly also stressed out if his tone was anything to go by.

“I know, _I know_ , I’m sorry. There’s just so much traffic, I really should have just had my present delivered to the house. You guys still have about an hour and a half left before he’ll come back, just set the house up the way we discussed, there’s a rough sketch of what things should go where in our room, use that as a guideline… Do you guys at least have the cake?”

Running into the house to grab Anthony’s sketch, Michael rummaged through his and Anthony’s room until he found what Anthony was talking about. “Yes, we do. Wait, according to your sketch, you want the cake to be put on the couch with the demonetisation pillow next to it?”

“Yes, just do as the sketch says, call me if you need help with anything else, I’m gonna have to end the call, driving right now and traffic is finally clearing up, hopefully I’ll arrive in 30 minutes. Oh, also, call me if Adi says that he can stall for no longer and that they’re heading home.” Anthony spoke through the call urgently.

Michael instructed the Free Time members that were at the house to start setting things up according to the sketch, they’d hopefully be done in about 45 minutes, 30 if they were really fast. “Sure. And Anthony, try and arrive earlier, you’re his best friend, it’d devastate him if you didn’t show up to his birthday.”

“I know, I’ll try my best. But if I don’t manage to arrive on time, at least tell him that I say happy birthday and that I only want the best for him. Also, be sure to mention I planned this entire thing, I need that ego boost. Or even better, put me on a call so I can talk to him directly.” Anthony added as he finally cleared onto relatively light traffic.

“Sure will. But bro, you don’t need to feel pressured to arrive if you physically can’t, Tal loves you and you missing his birthday party won’t change that, pretty dick move though, not gonna lie.” Michael spoke into the phone as he smirked while opening a box filled with confetti.

“Yeah whatever, sap… Oh, and Michael? Thanks.”

“No problem bro.” At that moment, a sound that sounded suspiciously like metal poles falling to the ground came from outside. “Well I gotta go now, seems like David and Cenna are fucking up the tent thing. Hopefully we’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, bye.” And with that Anthony ended the call.

Groaning loudly, Anthony hit his head against his headrest multiple times, quite literally fed up with his own bullshit. _Ugh what the actual fuck are you doing? With the speed you’re going you’ll most definitely miss Tal’s birthday party. And missing your best friend’s birthday? What kind of friend are you? Like Michael said, “pretty dick move”. God, even Michael thinks I’m a dick._

Anthony’s guilt was immeasurable, Tal never once missed one of his birthdays ever since they met in senior year of high school, in fact, he planned and paid for all of the parties held on his birthday, Tal was the best friend he could ever have asked for. He, on the other hand, well, he’s about to miss this one _and_ he nearly missed Tal’s 19th birthday, pretty shitty friend if you asked literally anyone.

 _Hopefully they manage to get everything prepared before Tal comes home._ Anthony hoped. _Well, I’ll drive a bit over the speed limit, going a bit faster won’t kill anyone, and I’m not about to miss this birthday, not over my dead body._

Oh, the irony…

* * *

  _45 minutes later…_

“Hey guys! Adi just texted me telling us that him and Tal are on their way home, they’ll be here in 10 minutes!” Anthony yelled in the direction of the backyard, they were practically done with setting up and were now only waiting on Anthony, who was yet to arrive.

“Where’s Anthony?” David asked. “He should be here by now.”

“Don’t know, lemme call him and find out, this bitch should’ve arrived nearly an hour ago.”

Dialling his number, Michael waited as he did 45 minutes ago, but this time, no one picked up the call. He tried again, still no answer. He tried a third time, still, no answer from the other side.

 _Okay what the fuck? Why isn’t Anthony picking up?! Don’t fucking tell me his phone is out of battery, I swear Anthony is so fucking dead after this. He may have planned all of this but he’s not even fucking here and Tal is going to arrive in like 5 minutes. Guess we’ll just have to start without him._ Michael thought, angry at the fact Anthony was still absent.

“Guys! Anthony probably won’t be arrived any time soon, he isn’t picking up his phone, I think it’s dead. He’s probably stuck in traffic somewhere. We’ll have to get this show on the road without him.”

“What the fuck? Anthony isn’t coming? He’s Tal’s best friend, why the fuck isn’t he coming?!” Cenna asked, clearly pretty flustered and mad.

“I know, we’re all mad, but Tal’s gonna be here in like 5 minutes, we need to start turning lights off before he gets here.” Michael’s phone pinged, alerting him of a notification, opening it, he hoped he’d see a text saying that Anthony had arrived, but what he got instead was much worse. “Shit! Tal’s here! Everyone, positions! Lights!”

A few moments later, the house darkened and silence filled the space. Only to be broken by the sound of keys being put in the keyhole and the doorknob being turned.

Once the door fully opened, Tal’s confused voice was heard. “Why is it so dark? It’s 6:25 PM. Adi?”

“Just go in bro, who cares.” Adi replied, trying to act nonchalant. Luckily for him, it seemed to work as Tal entered the house, though hesitantly. He then flipped the light switches only to have nothing happen.

“What the hell? Why aren’t these switches working?”

“Maybe try the ones near the kitchen, we never really used the switches near the entrance, so they might’ve not worked long before this.”

Tal hesitantly complied, walking across the dark living room towards the switches he knew were next to the kitchen entrance. But before he could flip them however, a hand grabbed his and he promptly screamed and practically jumped back and landed on the couch, he was never one for jump scares.

The lights turned on and the room filled with confetti. A giraffe coloured banner was hung above the kitchen entrance that read: Happy Birthday Tal. With various other decorations put up around the house.

Then Free Time members sprung out of hiding, and simultaneously yelled. “Happy birthday!”

Tal, who was still breathing hard from the jump scare, laughed and couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face. It turns out it was Cenna that grabbed Tal’s hand, and Tal was not slow to address that. “So it was _you_! Bro! Fuck you! You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack.”

Everyone laughed at that, with Michael speaking up. “Yeah, wouldn’t want the birthday boy to die on his birthday now would we?”

Adi, who just now noticed what was on the couch, laughed and said. “Yoooo bro! Look behind you!”

“Yoooo! Chill! Don’t you demonetise my birthday cake! … Wait, no fucking way, it’s a vanilla cake with strawberry filling?!” Tal exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah it is, Anthony did say it was your favourite.” Jojo answered.

Tal smiled at that, Anthony really came through, he couldn’t have asked for someone better than Anthony to be his best friend, the only thing he regretted though was meeting him so late in his high school life.

“Well, Anthony did plan this entire thing.” Nick added.

Tal, who just now noticed the relative lack of Anthony’s loud and obnoxious voice, searched the room for Anthony. Though he couldn’t find him. He frowned. “Speaking of Anthony, where is he?”

Before anyone could answer however, the sound of Michael’s phone going off filled the living room, his eyes widened as he looked down at the screen and excused himself from the room. Unaware of the pairs of eyes boring into his retreating back, as he was already answering the call.

Tal, who was still frowning, questioned curiously. “Guys? Where’s Anthony?”

“Anthony said he might be late to the party, he told us we should continue without him.” David spoke up.

Before Tal could say anything however, the sound of a phone dropping to the floor echoed from the kitchen.

“Michael? Is everything alright?” Tal asked curiously as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen entrance.

Michael was standing next to the sink, completely still with his side to Tal, with one of his hands still cupped around his ear, but instead of him holding a phone to his ear, his phone was on the floor next to him. The screen was shattered but was still functioning as the call screen was still visible.

“Michael? You okay? Who are you calling?” Tal prodded again having not received an answer the first time.

Upon closer inspection, Michael’s mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes were unfocused, not only that, but the hand next to his ear was shaking as well. As if he were in… shock.

Tal opened his mouth to question Michael again, but something on Michael’s phone screen caught his attention before he could form any words.

Taking a few steps closer, Tal managed to make out the name “Anthony” on the caller ID and his heart skipped a beat, out of joy or shock though, he wouldn’t know.

Tal stared at the phone for a second longer until he glanced back to Michael, who was now being pulled over to the couch by some Free Time members, who all wore worried expressions at Michael’s strange behaviour.

_What happened during that phone call?_

Looking back down at the forgotten phone on the floor, Tal noticed that Anthony hadn’t hung up yet. Looking back over to where Michael and the rest of the Free Time members were, it seemed they were all enamoured with trying to get Michael to talk, it didn’t seem like success was on the horizon however. Pulling his vision back to the phone, Tal quickly decided that if he couldn’t get answers out of Michael, he’d get them out of his best friend. He needed to know what was happening, why Michael was acting so strange and most importantly, he wanted to know where Anthony was.

Resolutely, Tal grabbed the phone and slid out of the kitchen undetected. Walking across the living room until he was far enough away from the kitchen so that no one could hear him speak, he put the phone to his ear and waited a beat until he said softly, with worry lacing his voice.

“Anthony?”

There was no reply, only the sounds of shuffling and the faint sound of some sort of siren.

“Hello? Anthony? Are you there?”

This time a voice did answer, but it was distinctly female, and not Anthony’s.

“Sir? You’re back, we thought we lost you for a second there. I know what I told you just now may have been a shock but—” The voice answered before being cut off by Tal, who was extremely confused as to why the voice answering him was not Anthony’s.

_Why does a woman have Anthony’s phone? What is happening?!_

“Wait, you’re not Anthony. Who are you and why do you have Anthony’s phone? Where is Anthony? I need to speak to him.”

There was no immediate reply, only the faint sounds of mumbling in the background on the other side, as if a conversation was being had.

 _Am I being pranked? Is this just another one of Anthony’s elaborate pranks?_ Tal thought. He decided to check to see if his hunch was true, before he could though, the female voice spoke.

“Sir, you’re speaking to emergency services here. I regret to inform you that Mr Anthony is currently unavailable at the moment…” A sigh and a long deep breath was heard from the other side, as if she were preparing for something, something bad.

“Sir, your friend was involved in a car accident and has sustained serious injuries.”

 


	2. Disbelief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. But this has to be done.

Tal was speechless.

His breath all but caught in his throat, suddenly removing the ability for him to form coherent words.

Not only that, his mind was blank, the only thought going through his mind was disbelief, funnily enough. You’d think that upon hearing such news, your mind would be racing with thoughts of shock, denial and grief. This, however, wasn’t the case for Tal Fishman.

It wasn’t that Tal didn’t love Anthony enough for him to grieve over Anthony, if anything, the opposite was true, Tal loved Anthony, so much so it hurt to hear, let alone _believe_ , something bad happened to him, especially something as dangerous as a car accident.

So, Tal’s first reaction to the news was disbelief, and nothing else. Not because he didn’t love Anthony enough to feel any other feelings, but because he loved him far too much for him to be able _to_ feel any other feelings and remain sane and somewhat composed.

He needed to remain composed, Tal knew it would do no one any good if he broke down right then and there, no matter how much he wanted, and oh did he want to. He was already fighting a losing battle against his emotions not even a minute after hearing the news.

His eyes pricked with unshed tears, though he refused to let them fall, letting the fall would symbolise him accepting this news as the truth, and he refused to believe so, _he couldn’t believe so_.

His mouth seemed to move of its own accord, Tal’s conscience couldn’t hear what he was saying, nor could it hear what the lady on the other line was saying either. But his mind did, and it took action immediately.

Tal bolted to the door and quickly flung it open, not bothering to brace its impact against the wall. Yet again, Tal’s mind was ahead of his conscience, seeing as it wasn’t until now that it realised, he had picked up his car keys on the couch at some point. Not wanting to waste time dwelling on the abnormality of him not realising nor remembering doing certain tasks, he bolted to his car and practically jumped into the driver’s seat.

He quickly turned the engine on and sat there staring out onto the road ahead of him. Tears stung his eyes yet again, but he wiped them away just as fast as they appeared, he stubbornly refused to believe this until he saw it himself, and if he does, then, and only then will he break down. Then, and only then, will he allow himself to grieve, and if he does see it as the truth, oh he’ll grieve.

Tal pushed hard on the accelerator and his car sped forward, he only had one destination in his mind, though he hated the fact that this was going to be his destination, but this was the only clue and piece of evidence he had on Anthony’s whereabouts, so he’d go there, no matter how much he hated to.

The drive was about one of the worst experiences of Tal’s life, not only did he not stop periodically starting to tear up, his mind began logically assessing the situation, with it coming to the same conclusion every single time, a conclusion his conscience stubbornly refused to accept. Though he knew it would only be a matter of time before stubbornness cracked down to logic and reason, and he hated it.

His car felt suffocating, he knew it was all in his mind, but that didn’t stop him from bolting out of it as fast as he could once he had arrived at his, no, _the_ destination.

He bounded up to reception and leaned over the counter, completely ignoring the queue and the shouts and curses from those in the queue, he had no time to deal with trivial matters like that, his conscience needed to know the truth before his mind presented him with it.

Completely forgetting formalities, Tal urged. “Do you know where An—” His voice cracked, and tears began forming yet again. _Dammit! Stop crying!_ “Where Anthony Rivera is?”

He didn’t know what he looked like at the moment, but he could only guess that he looked completely horrible with red glistening eyes and dishevelled hair, if the receptionist’s reaction to his question was anything to go by.

Impatient as he was, he urged again, but now more forcefully, he couldn’t wait any longer. “Do you?! I need to see _now_! I need to know if he’s okay.”

“Sir, I’m sorry but—” The receptionist began, but she was quickly interrupted, Tal didn’t want to hear this bullshit. He _needed_ to see Anthony, and if that was the last thing he’d do, then so be it. If what his mind was saying were true, it’d be better that way.

“ _Please._ ” Raw desperation was all that could be heard from Tal’s voice, usually that would be embarrassing, him begging in public, but now was an exception.

“Okay, Mr Rivera is currently in emergency room 2, but—”

Tal was already running off to where the directions on the ceiling said the emergency rooms were before the receptionist could finish, but he couldn’t shake the unmistakable look of sympathy he saw in her eyes. His conscience chose to ignore it, his mind did not.

Usually he was a rather polite person, always apologising whenever he bumped into someone else or someone else bumped into him, but he didn’t have time for any of that nonsense right now, all he had on his conscience was getting to emergency room 2, and nothing would stop him from getting there, not doctors or nurses getting in the way in the corridor and certainly not his mind constantly telling him the logical explanation he didn’t want to hear.

A doctor was stationing in front of the emergency room door, presumably to stop him from seeing Anthony, but before he could start begging, the doctor spoke up calmly, his eyes also filled with sympathy.

“Hello sir, I’m going to assume you’re one of Mr Rivera’s friends, so I’m not going to prevent you from visiting him, but the reason I’m here is to say that… we tried our best, and I’m so sorry.”

The doctor stood there with his clipboard in hand and politely stepped out of the way, so the door was unobstructed. But Tal only stared at the handle.

He didn’t know what to make of the doctor’s statement, his mind had already discovered the truth, this only reinforced that, didn’t make it any easier to deal with, but it did reinforce it nonetheless, his conscience however, its walls of stubbornness were crumbling, more from this one statement than it did the entire time his mind attacked it with logic and reason. His mind, despite having reached the logical conclusion, was yet to come to terms with it, and it’d be a long time before it did. His conscience, despite showing signs of resignation, still held on to its disbelief, enough so that Tal grabbed a hold of the handle and twisted it. The door opened, and the sounds of mechanical beeps resounded from the room.

A cold shiver ran down his spine and his heartbeat quickened even more.

A step, another step, and another and he was in the room. The door shut behind him, presumably shut by the doctor, but he paid it no mind. His eyes were fixed on the unconscious figure lying on the medical bed in front of him, unforgiving wires connected the body to machines surrounding the bed and it was then that his conscience finally broke.

It was true.

Tears of grief quickly streamed down his face and sobs forced their way out from his mouth, his attempts at silencing them were futile. It was then that he noticed there was a stall placed next to the bed, which he was grateful for. Tal wasn’t sure how long he could keep standing until his legs broke out on him.

Walking over to the bed, Tal grabbed a hold of Anthony’s hand, interlocking them, Anthony’s hands were colder than usual, but there was still warmth, warmth that he relished in, something he wasn’t able to do until now.

Sitting down on the stall, Tal let his head drop down onto Anthony’s body, despite still sensing a heartbeat, he still sobbed, though now it worsened. His sobs got louder, and his tears were wetting the medical robe Anthony was wearing.

There was still the chance that Anthony would be able to make it through this, he still had a heartbeat after all, his mind, wasn’t fooled, but that was all it took for his conscience to grab onto that particular fantasy.

“Anthony.” His voice was disrupted by sobs, and he didn’t sound like Tal Fishman, he sounded like a heart-broken boy who was losing their best friend that they loved so much. “Anthony, I know you’re probably unconscious right now, but I need to get this out.” A sob. “When we met, I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to like you, you were so different from any of my friends, so I was reclusive when it came to you.” Another sob, Tal was exhausted, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this for. “Turns out that was one of the worst mistakes of my life, your difference was what made you special, was what made you so friendly and in the end, it was what drove me to you.” Tal was getting more tired every second, he wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore, but he continued nonetheless. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I… I love you Anthony. I know we don’t say it a lot, but don’t think I don’t love you, I love you so much it hurts, I know that sounds cliché but it’s the truth. I know I say I hate your teasing, but secretly, I love it, and I think you know I love it too. And so, I hope you know that… I love you.”

Then exhaustion overtook him. Tears still very visible on his flushed cheeks.

Anthony, who was in fact slightly conscious throughout all of that, finally mustered the needed strength to speak and move his arms. He knew he wouldn’t be able to make it, the doctor told him that much, they could only extend the time he had left by a small bit, but that was all he needed.

Anthony moved one of his arms with great effort, grunting due to the amount of energy he used to merely move his arm. Anthony did his best to wipe away his best friend’s tears, he hated whenever Tal cried, especially over him, he had enough of that in his lifetime, he didn’t need one more.

Seeing his best friend in his current dishevelled and distressed state brought tears to Anthony’s eyes, that didn’t stop from trying to speak though, despite knowing that Tal was sleeping.

Anthony was beginning to slip away, he was over-exerting himself, but it was worth it, anything was for Tal. “Tal, I’m sorry I couldn’t… make it to your birthday… And I know… you love me, and I hope… _you_ know that… I love you too. Always have… Always will.”

Tal suddenly shifted in his sleep, he was having a nightmare, and Anthony could tell. Tal whimpered, and a tear made its way down his cheek, before being swiped away by Anthony’s hand. Anthony was exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to make to for much longer, but he was thankful Tal was here, that’s all he could really ask for.

Anthony’s consciousness was slipping. It was only a matter of time before it died with him following suit.

“Don’t cry, it’ll be alright…”

And with that, the sounds of the heart monitor flat lining filled the room.

This sure was one unforgettable birthday, for the one and only Tal Fishman.


End file.
